View source for USS Silversides (SSN-679)

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}
{{Other ships|USS Silversides}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
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|Ship image=USS Silversides (SSN-679).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Silversides'' (SSN-679), possibly during her [[sea trial]]s off [[New England]] in 1972.
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1972}}
|Ship name=USS ''Silversides''
|Ship namesake=The [[Silverside (fish)|silverside]]
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|Ship ordered=25 June 1968
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|Ship builder=[[Electric Boat]] Division of [[General Dynamics]] Corporation, [[Groton, Connecticut|Groton]], [[Connecticut]]
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|Ship laid down=13 October 1969
|Ship launched=4 June 1971
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. [[John H. Chafee]]
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|Ship commissioned=5 May 1972
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|Ship decommissioned=21 July 1994
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|Ship struck=21 July 1994
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|Ship motto=''[[Veni Vidi Vici]]'' ("I Came, I Saw, I Conquered")
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|Ship fate=Scrapping via [[Ship and Submarine Recycling Program]] begun 1 October 2000, completed 1 October 2001
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class=[[Sturgeon class submarine|''Sturgeon''-class]] [[attack submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|3978|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} light
*{{convert|4270|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
*{{convert|292|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} dead
|Ship length={{convert|302|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|31|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draft= {{convert|28|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship power=15,000 [[shaft horsepower]] (11.2 [[megawatt]]s)
|Ship propulsion= One [[S5W reactor|S5W]] [[nuclear reactor]], two [[steam turbine]]s, one [[Propeller|screw]]
|Ship speed=*{{convert|15|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|25|kn}} submerged
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|Ship test depth=1,300 feet (396 meters)
|Ship complement=109 (14 [[Commissioned officer|officers]], 95 [[Enlisted man|enlisted men]])
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|Ship armament=4 × {{convert|21|in|mm|0|adj=on}} [[torpedo tube]]s
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'''USS ''Silversides'' (SSN-679)''', a [[Sturgeon class submarine|''Sturgeon''-class]] [[attack submarine]], was the second ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for the [[Silverside (fish)|silverside]], a small fish marked with a silvery stripe along each side of its body.

==Construction and commissioning==
{{stack|[[Image:USS Silversides (SSN-679);0867903.jpg|300px|thumb|''Silversides'' being [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] at [[Groton, Connecticut|Groton]], [[Connecticut]], on 4 June 1971.]]}}
The contract to build ''Silversides'' was awarded to the [[Electric Boat]] Division of [[General Dynamics]] Corporation in [[Groton, Connecticut|Groton]], [[Connecticut]], on 25 June 1968 and her keel was laid down on 13 October 1969.  She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 4 June 1971, sponsored by Mrs. [[John H. Chafee]], wife of then-[[Secretary of the Navy]] [[John H. Chafee]] (1922–1999), and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 5 May 1972.

==Service history==
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Following [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]] in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and the [[Caribbean]], ''Silversides'' began operations in the Atlantic with her [[home port]] at [[Naval Station Charleston]] at [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[South Carolina]].

''Silversides'' went into [[drydock]] at [[Norfolk Naval Shipyard]] in [[Portsmouth, Virginia|Portsmouth]], [[Virginia]], in January 1977, at which time her home port was changed from Charleston to [[Naval Station Norfolk]] at [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], [[Virginia]].

On 11 October 1981, "Silversides" surfaced at the [[North Pole]] for the first time.

In the autumn of 1984, ''Silversides'' left Norfolk for a scheduled [[refueling overhaul]] at [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]] in [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], entering drydock there in late November 1984.  The refueling overhaul was completed in August 1986, and later in 1986 she returned to Norfolk.

In the autumn of 1989, ''Silversides'' departed Norfolk and voyaged north into the [[Arctic]], surfaced at the North Pole for the second time, proceeded out of the [[Arctic Ocean]] into the [[Pacific Ocean]], participated in [[United States Pacific Fleet]] exercises, made port calls in [[Hawaii]] and [[California]], and returned to Norfolk via the [[Panama Canal]], becoming only the second submarine to circumnavigate [[North America]].

In Jan 1994, ''Silversides''{{'}} home port was changed from Norfolk to [[Pearl Harbor]], Hawaii, in anticipation of her [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioning]] there.

==Decommissioning and disposal==

''Silversides'' was decommissioned at Pearl Harbor on 21 July 1994 and stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] the same day. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered [[Ship and Submarine Recycling Program]] at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard began on 1 October 2000 and was completed on 1 October 2001.

== References ==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s13/silversides-ii.htm}}
*{{Naval Vessel Register|hull=SSN-679}}
*{{navsource|08/08679}}

{{Sturgeon class submarine}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silversides (Ssn-679)}}
[[Category:Ships built in Groton, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Sturgeon-class submarines]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:1971 ships]]


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